Month: February 2020

Nancy and Jill over on our Facebook page pointed out an interesting idea the other day. They both agreed that our Milk and Cookies Mug (pictured below) which, when working with a Facebook ad rep, I decided to advertise for Valentines Day on sale was both “NOT a loving message” and “kind of creepy”.

I can see both of their points. I posted on the Facebook page a link to my previous blog entry about the purpose of mugs and started to explain my take on relationships. This is probably not such a great thing, a permanently single guy handing out advice to all those bound in true love, but you know me, I’ll take a shot at it anyway. So here goes: (and this doesn’t have to be exclusive to loving partnerships, so maybe I do have a chance of having some meaningful insight.)

Relationships built on foundations of trust and honesty are those built to last the test of both time a struggle. I know, cute, quaint words that roll off the keyboard with amazing speed and rhetorical meaning. “Every one does that”, You say. I propose not. Site: about 40 to 50% of all marriages fail.

So, back to the mug. It’s cute. You gotta give me that. In every relationship all parties have FELT this way. The difference between feeling and doing is vast. So this mug can be that starter for your communication. Or any of our other mugs, for that matter. Consider them you mugmunication starers.

If we learn to talk about how we really feel, honestly, then we start to get somewhere with our partners. In business or at home if we are able to tell people “This is how I feel. It is not how I am going to act, but just how I am feeling”.

I do this with my God. I tell Him how I feel all the time. Sometimes I feel great like He is parting the waters in front of me. Sometimes I feel lost and I’m seeking His light and guidance in the darkness. Sometimes I’m mad at Him because I think my plan is better than His. (I’ll give you a clue on that one, my plan is always bound to fail.) But I tell Him, because it’s honest and true. If I really want a relationship with Him then I have to trust that His shoulders are big enough to bear my burdens. Here is the tricky part: If I really want a relationship my shoulders have to be big enough to follow Him.

So, I’ll end with this: While God’s head is definitely too big to hold under a glass of milk, I did nail His only Son to a cross and turn my head while He died for my sins. And there’s nothing NOT loving or creepy about that.

Thank you for your comments Jill and Nancy. Keep ’em coming!

Trying to pour the perfect mug of coffee with no mug. You see Joshua Tree Mug Company doesn’t just provide funny, serious, political, beautiful, inspirational, sarcastic, you name it mugs to make statement or to look at, they all actually have a function. They serve to hold our coffee. Or for the more discerning (proper) among us tea. Or is there even more of a purpose for them than that?

I personally have a favorite mug. It’s a little weird, but it’s a misprint. You see, when we press the mugs we need to print the art in reverse. When I designed the “God Bless America” mug I was so excited to make a photograph of it and get it up on the website that I forgot to mirror the image before printing.

So, here it is:

And why am I showing you this? Because a mug needs to be something that holds your coffee, yes. But it can be much more. In my case this mug reminds me to slow down. Measure twice before cutting, or in this case pressing. Before doing something permanent, check to see if it’s really something I want to do. So I wander around the print shop with my mug, more slowly now, not making as many mistakes.

Stop by sometime and check it out. I’ll bet you’ll find me with a backwards God Bless America mug in my hand, full of coffee or something else. Because Joshua Tree Mug Company mugs aren’t just made for coffee.

I just posted our 200th Mug Design! Yep, you read right. 200 designs now on JoshuaTreeMugCo.com!

For most of this week I’ve had the dreaded disease. No, not the one you’ve been hearing about on the news. I’m writing about MUGBlock. It’s something only I can get and I can’t seem to pass it on to anyone else. It’s when I know that a particular mug needs to be designed. I know it has to be special and unique. I sit in my corner and just think and think and think until I’m all thunk out.

Well, early this morning I was working on a completely different project for another client and it came to me. So I dropped their project, like a hot potato, and got to it. They don’t need their project done anyway. Mugs are really what’s important. So here it is:

So, there it is. This mug is going to add a very colorful flavor to whatever you put in in. Hopefully I am cured and you are pleased. The best of both worlds where rainbows and unicorns are free to roam. – Enjoy

So… Here is what you’ve been looking for: To celebrate our 200th mug design I’m going to give away 20 of the 11oz versions FREE. You’ve just got to pay for the tax, if applicable and cover the cost to ship it to you. The first weekend of February 2020 use coupon code ‘the200th‘ at checkout with any version of the Paint Drip Mug in your cart and you’ll get $9.95 off. But, there are ONLY 20 coupons available!